Homeschooling in Massachusetts
What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.
What Massachusetts requires
- Notify
- Local school district (superintendent or school committee) where the child lives — Before home instruction begins: approval must be obtained in advance. No statewide date; follow the district's policy timeline. (annual)
- Testing or evaluation
- Required. Set by the approved plan.
- Subjects set by the state
- Yes — 13 required subjects, listed below
- Teaching time
- No statewide number.
- Compulsory school age
- 6 to 16 — in detail
- Records
- None set by state law; keep whatever the approved plan calls for (for example progress reports, work samples, test results) and the district's approval letter.
Taking your child out of school in Massachusetts
First move: Notify the district in writing, submit a home education plan, and wait for approval before removing the child.
DESE warns that notification alone does not authorize homeschooling and that a child removed without an approved plan is truant. Districts should respond within a reasonable time.
The legal routes
2 routes exist in Massachusetts. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.
- Home education plan approved in advance by the local school committee/superintendent (M.G.L. c. 76 §1)
- There is no homeschool statute: the only basis is the attendance law's exception for a child 'otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance.' Each district sets its own approval policy within limits set by court cases (Care and Protection of Charles, 1987; Brunelle v. Lynn, 1998).
- Approved private school
- A child may attend a private day school approved by the school committee as equal 'in thoroughness and efficiency' to the local public schools; this is not a homeschool route by itself.
The notice, and who receives it
- Goes to
- Local school district (superintendent or school committee) where the child lives
- Deadline
- Before home instruction begins: approval must be obtained in advance. No statewide date; follow the district's policy timeline.
- Renews
- annual
- Form
- No state form; submit an education plan following the district's home education policy
No official state form was found online for this route; the body above supplies it, or a letter serves.
Subjects Massachusetts requires
- Orthography (spelling)
- Reading
- Writing
- English language and grammar
- Geography
- Arithmetic
- Drawing
- Music
- History and constitution of the United States
- Duties of citizenship
- Health education
- Physical education
- Good behavior
Compulsory school age
6 to 16 (per DESE)
Teaching time
No statewide number. The district may consider the proposed length of the school year and hours of instruction per subject; public school structured-learning-time rules do not apply.
Who may teach
No certification or degree may be required (Charles), but the district may ask about the parents' qualifications or competency to teach.
Testing and evaluation
Set by the approved plan. Under Charles the district may require periodic standardized testing, but parents may propose alternatives such as periodic progress reports or dated work samples.
Home visits cannot be required as a condition of approval without parental consent (Brunelle).
Deadline: As set in the district's approval (commonly annual)
Records to keep
None set by state law; keep whatever the approved plan calls for (for example progress reports, work samples, test results) and the district's approval letter.
High school, diplomas and transcripts
No state homeschool diploma or graduation rules; the parent may issue a diploma. Colleges and employers set their own requirements.
Public school classes, sports and activities
District discretion: districts may, but need not, let homeschoolers take courses, join programs or play sports; DESE does not review those decisions. Homeschooled children keep the right to special education evaluation and services under state law.
Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits
Massachusetts has no education savings account, voucher or tax-credit program for homeschool families.
What changed recently
No change to state law in 2023-2026. H.518 (2025-2026, 'An Act to facilitate homeschooling and encourage educational innovation', Rep.
Boldyga) was referred to the Joint Committee on Education and heard Sept 16, 2025; no enactment found. Locally, the Lowell School Committee in 2026 proposed limiting withdrawal-to-homeschool to certain months and requiring registration, but dropped the proposal after June 2026 opposition (HSLDA, Aug 2026), illustrating that district policies can change.
What we could not confirm
Requirements vary by district; parents must get their own district's policy. Brunelle and Goodall holdings are taken from the Mass.
Trial Court Law Library summary, not read in full. Status of other 2025-2026 homeschool bills not checked (web-search budget exhausted). Whether c. 71 §§2-3 civics and PE details strictly apply to home plans is a matter of district interpretation (the Trial Court Law Library says §§1-3 apply under Charles).
- Whether H.518 was formally reported out or sent to study after the hearing
Listed because a legal summary that hides its gaps is harder to trust than one that names them. How these pages are checked.
Statutes and sources
Statute and regulation
- M.G.L. c. 76 § 1
- M.G.L. c. 71 §§ 1-3
- Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987)
- Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools, 428 Mass. 512 (1998)
- Goodall v. Worcester School Committee, 405 F. Supp. 3d 253 (D. Mass. 2019)
Statute text
- M.G.L. c. 76 § 1 School attendance
- M.G.L. c. 71 § 1 Required instruction
- Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987) (CourtListener)
- Bill H.518 (194th General Court): An Act to facilitate homeschooling and encourage educational innovation